Customized workouts

Personal trainers are still a luxury for many people, but devising custom workouts from books and videos can be time-consuming. A happy medium can be found in “Prevention Fitness Systems: Personal Training” (Good Times Video, 2006), hosted by Chris Freytag. It lets viewers craft their own exercise routine by choosing from a variety of cardio and toning workouts.

-- Jeannine Stein

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“Prevention Fitness Systems: Personal Training”: This DVD is all about options. Viewers can select from nine parts: a warmup, four five-minute toning segments (legs and butt, abs and lower back, arms and shoulders, chest and upper back), a 10-minute total body toning workout, two 13-minute cardio workouts (at different levels) and a cool-down. A brief tutorial explains how to mix and match the system. The workouts proceed at a moderate pace and offer a few innovative moves, such as a backsliding lunge, using a towel on a hardwood floor or a paper plate on carpet. Some modifications are offered.

Cardio choreography is fun but uncomplicated, and Freytag, a Minnesota-based fitness instructor, trainer and contributing editor to Prevention magazine, keeps the energy up with her perky (but not too perky) personality. At five minutes each, the targeted toning workouts are short, meant to be strung together for longer programs.

“I’ve been teaching group fitness for 15 years,” Freytag says, “and I love change. With this DVD, you don’t have to do the same thing each time.” The video, she adds, should also appeal to busy types who can sandwich in a only few minutes of exercise here and there throughout the day: “You can work out when you want to, mix and match body parts and add cardio in.”

Price: $14.98, available at www.preventionfitness.com, www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.